An important function of mobile devices as well as other devices (such as personal computers, video game consoles, televisions, etc.) is to display, output and/or otherwise facilitate a user's consumption of a variety of media. As such, these mobile and other devices can collectively be thought of as “media presentation devices”. A variety of technologies have been developed that allow for or facilitate the transmission and consumption of such media, including for example video streaming content delivery technologies.
It is not uncommon for a person who is interested in watching or otherwise consuming media content by way of a media presentation device to move among different locations or otherwise undergo changes in circumstance where it is not possible to continue watching (or otherwise experiencing/interacting with) that media content by way of that same media presentation device. Commonly, when this occurs, the person will experience an undesirable interruption in his or her observation or other consumption of the media.
For example, a person may move from a first room in the person's home, at which a personal computer is available for the person to watch certain media, to a second room in the person's home, where a television set (but not the computer) is present. Also for example, even if a person remains within the same room of a house, the person may face a situation where an original media presentation device such as a television set is no longer available for presentation of the media content of interest, even though another media presentation device in that room could still theoretically be utilized to present the media content (for example, because another person has entered the room who needs to watch other media content on the original media presentation device).
There already do exist some systems that make it possible for particular media content of interest to be displayed (or otherwise output or utilized) at multiple locations and even potentially switched from one location to another. For example, a television program delivered via cable into a home can potentially be displayed by multiple televisions in multiple rooms and even switched from being displayed in one room to being displayed in another room, particularly if multiple cable television signal processing boxes are present in the different rooms and are coordinated appropriately.
However, such existing systems tend to be limited in their capabilities and often operate in accordance only with special in-home protocols or proprietary standards determined by the media content providers (e.g., the cable television provider). More particularly, many such existing systems are not adequate for allowing arbitrary media content to be provided to and shifted among a variety of different types of media presentation devices, much less shifted among different media presentation devices in a manner that minimizes interruption. In some circumstances, deep integration between the media presentation devices and program guide applications are required, which particularly restricts the ability to shift media among various types of media presentation devices.
More particularly in this regard, there currently exists a three-screen pause and pick up video system that is defined in standards as an IP multi-media subsystem (IMS). IMS, although standards based, requires deployment of customized and expensive infrastructure to support such services.
It would therefore be advantageous if an improved system and method for operating media presentation devices that would alleviate one or more of the above-discussed problems could be developed.